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Monday, March 25, 2013

On deck

It's still snowing in New York, but major league baseball starts its regular season this Sunday night. For most teams, the schedule of real games (that count) commences the following afternoon.

Lo and behold, the Houston Astros, who will host the first night's game, are now in the American League. They'd be dreadful in any setting, but their move has significance for all fans. With 15 teams in each league, there will be at least some inter-league play more days than not.

We hear that a right-handed pitcher can no longer fake a pickoff throw to third and then wheel to throw to first. And there will be interpreters on the pitcher's mound for when managers and pitchers do not speak the same language. We are not making that up. (For pitchers from Portland, Klingon will be available.)

As best we can tell, the playoff format will be the same as last year's -- two teams in each league battling it out in a single game for a wild card berth against the top-seeded of their league's three division winners.

Vin Scully will reportedly be back calling the play-by-play for the Dodgers. Let's hope our iPhone can find him.

Comments (4)

Jack,
I had to laugh Friday right after your big announcement that you were shutting down the blog. I went outside and there was hail and what I swear were a few snowflakes coming down just for a couple of minutes. I thought, "What do we do now without the Storm Warnings from Jack Bog's Blog?"

It seems like everything has been getting stranger lately. I made a joke a week ago Friday about dead pigs in the river that supplies drinking water for Shanghai. I called the water bacon-flavored. The joke went on TV that night, and was revisited in a new form on Monday. It was aimed at the Chinese government's ridiculous statement that having thousands of dead pigs in the river would not affect the quality of the drinking water. My bacon-flavored part was repeated in the Monday version and - according to the WSJ - that clip has now gone viral in China. That's huge. I've slammed China many times but this is verification that it is actually bouncing around in their country, embarrassing their leaders. Love it.

This is what comedy is for - whether it's to point out the absurdities of city planners here in Portland, or to tweak a police state like China - there will always be a need for the rest of us to make fun of the powerful.

For $125, you can sign up with MLB.com and get every game (except the Mariners), including home and away broadcasts. Best $125 you'll spend all summer. All these years later, Scully is still on top of his game.

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 155
At this date last year: 241
Total run in 2015: 271
In 2014: 401
In 2013: 257
In 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269